Ace micro brewer

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Hi guys,

I got the klarstein branded version of this system a couple of weeks ago and also noticed the lack of cooling coil or immersion chiller in our lingo, I emailed them and complained that this was a misleading advert and I wouldn't have bought from them if it wasn't included. I went on to say that as these retail for around 50 euro that i wanted that refunded to me. Hats off to the German retailer, hifi, they refunded it without any argument at all. I advised them to change wording on the advert but if you bought one over a week ago then you should contact them asap and demand a refund.

Cheers

Bought from same retailer, great to hear this! I emailed them last thursday, they said they'd have a solution for me by today. Now I know 50 euro is my target for refund... that's a couple of big bags of malt!

thanks for this info, greatly appreciated.
 

I noticed this too... originally, it was listed on the klarstein page as well, but they seem to have updated (probably after a few complaints). The ebay retailer I bought through is still using the old description that lists the chiller in the included parts:

http://www.ebay.it/itm/KLARSTEIN-MA...864885?hash=item2efbbb8035:g:69QAAOSw241YhddW

[Ignore the price... looks like they are now out of stock, have increased the price absurdly to keep listing active but stop anyone from ordering]
 
I have just got my Klarstein which also came without a chiller
asked for a refund so I could buy one
they made a refund of £35 so not bad
will be making a brew tomorrow finger cross it all goes well
 
Yeah the description on the English version of the Klarstein site (which I bought from) still has the chiller included: http://www.klarstein.co.uk/Kitchen-...l.html?listtype=search&searchparam=mundschenk

edit: I've just emailed them asking for a partial refund, let's see what happens :)

I bought from hifi-tower on ebay, not from klarstein directly (they don't ship to Italy). Just got an email and they've refunded me 60 GBP for the absence of the immersion chiller. That's pretty impressive... the whole thing (with shipping) was 340 pounds so it's a substantial portion of the total price.

They'll get a glowing ebay comment from me...
 
Glad to hear a few more of you have got some of your money back; I didn't particularly want the chiller so to get the refund was an added bonus and effectively taking the price down to 270 makes it a great buy.

Happy brewing with it
 
It has finally arrived (like a day or 2 ago) , now what to try and make form,y first AG ,that is the question

If I could buy a grain that I could use in multiple brews then I think I would give that ago rather then just getting enough for 1 brew or should I be content with just doing 1 brew and taking it from there
 
Hi,

Guys do you have a BeerSmith profile for the ACE Micro Brewery ok Klarstein, very few data about it.

Cheers

This is what I have set up in beersmith:

Brewhouse Efficiency 75%

Mash/Lauter Tun:
29.98 L Mash Tun Vol.
4.00 kG Mash Tun Weight
.012 Cal/gram-deg C
3.41 L Mash Tun Addition
3.41 L Lauter Tun Losses

Boiler:
3.41 L Top Up Water for Kettle
28.01 L Boil Volume
60 L Boil Time
1.89 L Boil Off
CHECKED Use boil off as an hourly rate
4 <-- (only variable that can be changed) Cooling Shrinkage

Fermenter/Bottling Volumes:
2.01 L Loss to Trub/Chiller
0 L Top Up Water
23.02 L Batch Volume
1.51

Profile taken from 'William TeBrake' on following link: http://www.beersmith.com/forum/index.php/topic,14483.msg57259.html#msg57259

I will probably need to change it as I learn for the Ace Micro Brewer but we will all report our findings, right? :) :thumb:
 
In regards to the profile I've only made one brew in it so obviously still dialing it in but for that brew I worked on a grain bill of 3.8kg, strike water at 20 l and a sparge of 10l and expected 20l into the FV at 1042. What I got was 17l at 1054 which when liqoured back to 20l came in at ~1054 which I think gives 77% efficiency. Based on that experience I think the boil off was greater than expected so I'll increase the mash volume next time and increase the expected efficiency.

This is what my next brew will look like along with some notes from the first one any opinions greatly welcomed:

Bengal LancerIsh (English IPA)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.052 (°P): 12.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol (ABV): 5.11 %
Colour (SRM): 7.2 (EBC): 14.1
Bitterness (IBU): 53.2 (Average)

98% Maris Otter Malt
2% Crystal 80

1.2 g/L Challenger (6.1% Alpha) @ 90 Minutes (Boil)
1.7 g/L East Kent Golding (5.5% Alpha) @ 90 Minutes (Boil)
1.2 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
0.6 g/L Challenger (6.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)
0.6 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)


Single step Infusion at 67°C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 90 Minutes

Fermented at 18°C with Danstar Windsor

Notes: assumptions for strike water.
On the trashy blonde the volume to fv was 3 litres below and 12points above expected
SG, when liqured back the SG was correct and efficiency was good (77%).

So using the following should compensate for the extra boil off/absorbtion so
hopefully no need to liquor back in the FV

23 +(2.1+4+4.9)=34
- 23 = 11 litre spare

Those numbers are put into brewmate. compare after this brew to check if SG
and volume into FV are correct.

Boiler Steps

S1
Temp= 70oC
Power= 2500w
Timer = 1 min

S2
Temp = 69oC
Power = 1500w
Timer = 60 mins

S3
Temp = 75oC
Power = 2500w
Timer = 10 mins

S4
Temp = Max
Power = 2500w
Timer = 90mins

Process
1) Weigh out grain and get to room temp
2) Transfer hot tap water to boiler and add 1/2 Campden Tablet
3) When Boiler Step 1 reached then dough in the grain, stir and turn on
recirculation pump
4) Boiler Step 2 the mash proceeds for the next 60mins
5) Boiler Step 3 the mash out for 10 mins
6) Remove malt tube, drain and sparge
7) While doing step 6 the boiler should be heater the wort
8) During Boiler Step 4 follow the hop schedule as per the recipe include
whirlfloc for final 15 mins
9) Transfer to no chill cube
10) Clean up

Add 8ml CRS to mash
and 4 ml to sparge

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
 
I have just got my Klarstein which also came without a chiller
asked for a refund so I could buy one
they made a refund of �£35 so not bad
will be making a brew tomorrow finger cross it all goes well

Let us know how your first attempt goes if you get it done today, what are you making?

Cheers
 
Let us know how your first attempt goes if you get it done today, what are you making?

Cheers

:thumb: well am I glad I got the klarstein (ace) system
from start to finish it took me 3hours 25 mins to do a 23ltr brew and clean all equipment and put away
I did the Tetley bitter clone brew
so I'm a happy bunny so I will have few to drink tonight :drink::drink:
 
Hi all, visit from Denmark, do any of you here who have made the purchase have a email / contact data of the ACE seller ?

Cheers
 
mine (klarstein) keeps tripping out....arrggghhhh....

First time I used it it tripped on the boil. Post boil there was a burned ring on the steel above the heater element (must have let the bottom run dry when using the pump?)

I thought maybe this was somehow the issue but just brewing another batch and now its tripping at 40C on mash ....

I think it might be going back to Germany next week...

Also I dont like the control panel - takes too long to set and every time it resets you have to re-programme. Small niggle I know.
 
mine (klarstein) keeps tripping out....arrggghhhh....

First time I used it it tripped on the boil. Post boil there was a burned ring on the steel above the heater element (must have let the bottom run dry when using the pump?)

I thought maybe this was somehow the issue but just brewing another batch and now its tripping at 40C on mash ....

I think it might be going back to Germany next week...

Also I dont like the control panel - takes too long to set and every time it resets you have to re-programme. Small niggle I know.

I had the same thing happen... kept tripping an internal breaker, and at the end of the boil had a burnt ring on the bottom. This was during an actual brew (after having tested with water prior).

The problem now appears to have gone away... have subsequently run one full mock brew and one full actual brew without having the same trouble.

Also, I have not seen the burn ring, in spite of boiling wort for an hour at 2500 watts.

Maybe the burn and the breaker tripping are somehow related? Is it perhaps running beyond capacity, heating up beyond rating and thus tripping the breaker?

Perhaps it's worth trying again with yours, see if the problem remains? I have no idea why it would be so, but I'm hoping it's a 'first run' thing. My only evidence for this is that the problem appears to have gone away for me (knock on wood).
 
I had the same thing happen... kept tripping an internal breaker, and at the end of the boil had a burnt ring on the bottom. This was during an actual brew (after having tested with water prior).

The problem now appears to have gone away... have subsequently run one full mock brew and one full actual brew without having the same trouble.

Also, I have not seen the burn ring, in spite of boiling wort for an hour at 2500 watts.

Maybe the burn and the breaker tripping are somehow related? Is it perhaps running beyond capacity, heating up beyond rating and thus tripping the breaker?

Perhaps it's worth trying again with yours, see if the problem remains? I have no idea why it would be so, but I'm hoping it's a 'first run' thing. My only evidence for this is that the problem appears to have gone away for me (knock on wood).

Is it possible to run the boil on lower power? The older ace boiler I use runs at 1600w and gets a decent boil on and no signs of scorching or burning. I'm really considering on adding this kit to my set up and relegating my older ace to a hlt.
 
when i did my brew i also had scorching but it did not trip out electric now I got the burn ring and it wont come of
will try a lower temp next time on the boil
 
Is it possible to run the boil on lower power? The older ace boiler I use runs at 1600w and gets a decent boil on and no signs of scorching or burning. I'm really considering on adding this kit to my set up and relegating my older ace to a hlt.

Yes, it can be run on lower wattage setting. I'm not entirely sure what this does, though... I think that it just results in the burner cycling through on/off periods with longer off periods, rather than that the actual temperature of the burner becomes lower. But not sure of this.

When the wort reaches a good rolling boil I've noticed no problem with scorching... the movement of the liquid seems to stop this from happening.

I'm still worried about this breaker problem, though... I'm not happy to hear that it's something others have also seen. Suggests that it might reappear for me...
 
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